To take the skill development mission up to the block level, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday launched the government’s ambitious Mukhya Mantri Sarathi Yojana (MMSY) at a function here.
The CM also kicked off the Block Level Institute for Rural Skill Acquisition (BIRSA) in 80 blocks under the Sarathi scheme, which is part of Jharkhand Skill Mission.
"The aim of the scheme is to make everyone, whether educated or uneducated, skilled so that they could be linked to employment or self-employment," Soren said.
Stating that skill development centres were mostly located in urban areas earlier, Soren said, “Rural youths used to face numerous problems to get training from such centres. So, the government decided to provide them training in their own blocks. In phased manner, BIRSA centres will be opened in all 264 blocks of the state,” he said.
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Soren said his government has also decided to provide travel allowance for training and employment incentive in case they did not get employment after training.
Under the scheme, youths will be provided training in various skilling programmes so that they could get employment or go for self-employment.
In 2023-24, the government aims to provide training to 40,000 rural youths.
If any of the trainees did not get a job after three months of training, an employment incentive of Rs 1,000 to boys and Rs 1,500 to girls or physically challenged trainees will be given till the end of the first year through direct benefit transfer (DBT), an official said.
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Besides, the trainees will also be provided travel allowance of Rs 1,000 to boys and Rs 1,500 to girls or physically challenged persons during training.
The eligibility for the scheme has been divided into two categories - general and reserved.
Under the general category, youths in the age group of 18-35 will be provided skill training, while the upper age limit for the reserved category will be 50 years, the official said.
The chief minister transferred travel allowance to bank accounts of 2,178 beneficiaries and employment incentive to accounts of 1,039 beneficiaries on the occasion.
"Skill development is important for everyone. Working style is changing fast and skill development is required accordingly, otherwise there will be problem of employment," Soren said.
Hitting out at the Centre without taking name, the CM said the country’s economy is not in good shape. Price rise is skyrocketing, which has impacted the poor as well as the rich, he added.
Soren added that the current situation of employment in the country is worrying. “Earlier, farmers’ children used to go for defence jobs. After the Centre made changes in its recruitment provisions, the youths are in a catch-22 situation whether to join the defence services or not,” Soren said.
He said employment opportunities have also shrunk in banks and railways.
